Public Citizen today delivered a letter to Agriculture Secretary MikeJohanns, demanding immediate action on a FOIA request on BSE reportsthat has been languishing in USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service(FSIS) for more than seven months, even though the agency acknowledgesthat some records exist.

Prior to sending the letter, the consumer group today met with FSISofficials to determine why it has yet to receive the non-compliancereports the group requested on Dec. 23, 2004, specifically on the topicof agency regulations for preventing BSE. The meeting ended with thematter unresolved. The FOIA requested "all records pertaining to theenforcement of BSE-related regulations in slaughter and processingplants, including but not limited to non-compliance reports and othercorrespondence between the agency and establishments."

The impetus for the original FOIA request was a letter sent to FSIS byMr. Charles Painter, Chairman of the National Joint Council of FoodInspection Locals, on Dec. 8, 2004. In the letter, sent on behalf ofthe NJC, Mr. Painter presented concerns about the removal of specifiedrisk materials (SRMs) from cattle and FSIS inspectors' ability toenforce the export requirements for products destined for Mexico.Instead of investigating the concerns, FSIS chose to open a misconductinvestigation on Mr. Painter on the grounds that he did not name theplants (and consequently, FSIS inspectors) where violations occurred.

FSIS reported to Congress that it has a median of 73 workdays as itsresponse time to "complex" FOIA requests. Public Citizen's FOIArequest is now in its 116th day.

To read the letter to Secretary Johanns, go tohttp://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/madcow/articles.cfm?ID=13686.To read a timeline of events in the FOIA request, go tohttp://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/madcow/articles.cfm?ID=13687.

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Public Citizen is a national consumer advocacy organization with150,000 members based in Washington, D.C. For more information, visitwww.citizen.org.